Republicans on the House Oversight Committee spent much of Wednesday hammering Michael Cohen as a convicted liar whose word should never be trusted. President Trump added that Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer, was only lying "95 percent" of the time, the exception being Cohen's attested lack of direct knowledge of Trump-Russia collusion (though Cohen said he had his "suspicions").
In an interview with Trump broadcast Thursday night, Fox News host Sean Hannity told Trump that Cohen and his lawyer had lied about Hannity being one of Cohen's three legal clients. But Hannity suggested he believed Cohen's earlier assertion about Trump's involvement in a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels. "I can tell you personally, he said to me at least a dozen times that he made the decision on the payments and he didn't tell you," Hannity told Trump, who agreed.
Hannity had said something similar when Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani surprised him by revealing that Trump had in fact repaid Cohen and knew about the hush agreement. Cohen testified on Wednesday that nothing happened in the Trump Organization without Trump's knowledge and assent, and that while Trump told him and CFO Allen Weisselberg to figure out how to pay Daniels, he ordered the payment made himself. There's also audio of Cohen telling Trump about the payments; CNN's Don Lemon played it Thursday night.
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In any case, legal experts are suggesting that Hannity just earned himself a subpoena from the Southern District of New York, and Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) saw the interview as in invitation. Peter Weber
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